9.1.18. 13.1 miles.

I woke up early this morning, probably bc I went to bed so much earlier than my other days in town. I was still exhausted though, and tried to go back to sleep. Eventually I got up and went to breakfast at Bridgeside for the last time. After that, I went back to the hotel to finish packing, and to patch up the hole in my tent mesh that I failed to do my other days in town. I turned the tv on and discovered a Harry Potter marathon was happening, so I happily watched that while sewing up the hole. I was sad that I needed to hike out today instead of enjoying the HP marathon and laying in bed. I had until 12 to check out and took every minute of that time.

At 12, I messaged a young woman who follows me on Instagram. She lives in Portland and wanted to come out and meet me, as she wants to hike the PCT. I told her she was welcome to meet me in Cascade Locks and hike into Washington with me! So she met up with me, and quickly drove me to the grocery store as my waterbottle had grown mold, something I just noticed this morning right before checking out. We parked again and then walked up to the Bridge of the Gods, and I walked into Washington!

Marissa was so sweet and so game to hike a little with me, even though the walk across the bridge with tons of cars was a little unnerving. Marissa took my picture with the bridge, and then we continued to the trail. We hiked about 3 miles together, and she was able to ask me many questions about the hike and my motivations and about hiking solo and fears involved there. She was awesome, and I can’t wait until she hikes the trail herself! Social media can bring people together!

As I was saying goodbye to Marissa, DHS, Excel, Twinkle Toes, and Jinx showed up and we all talked, and then a bee randomly stung me on my inner thigh and it hurt so much, and still does as I’m writing this in my tent tonight. I was laughing a little bc I know Butters was also stung right as she entered Washington, as well as another hiker who I follow on insta. Excel showed me her now bruised thigh where a bee stung her as well. I just couldn’t believe I had also gotten stung upon entering WA, where there were hardly any bees, when I had managed to escape NorCal, which was swarming with them. Oh well.

After saying goodbye to Marissa, the real uphill started, and it was pretty brutal. It was pretty steep in places and unrelenting. I stopped for a break at the last water source for 12 miles and filtered enough water for hiking and cooking. I got my stove back for Washington, so needed to take cooking water into account again!

Finally, after many hours, I stopped climbing and descended a bit to the place I’m camped tonight. I’m happy I made it this far during that climb. It was definitely not fun with a fully loaded pack and lots of water. I can already feel that my hips and chest/ shoulders are more tender than usual.